8 Aug 2011 07:00
Ila Group Limited
("Ila" or "the Company")
Trading update and successful fundraising
·; Major contract win from multi-national blue-chip customer
·; Over $800k of orders received in the last 8 weeks, the largest yet from a single customer
·; Fully-subscribed equity fundraising of £1.55m to fund continued rapid growth
Ila (AIM: ILA), the UK based international marketing and distribution specialist, is pleased to announce that it has received significant orders from a major new multi-national client totalling over US$800,000. Further orders are expected over the next three months from this blue-chip customer.
Of particular significance is that the orders are for products manufactured by Ila's recently acquired subsidiary, Premium Factory, reflecting the rapid turnaround and integration of the company since acquisition.
Ila now has a strong pipeline of sales which include those announced recently ($365,000 to Austria/Germany and $445,000 from Elkjop in Norway), which will underpin the company's rapid development.
Ila (AIM: ILA) is also pleased to announce a the completion of a share placing of 129,166,660 Ordinary Shares at a price of 1.2 pence per share to raise £1.55m. The proceeds of the placing will be used to provide the Company with further working capital which will enable it to fulfill current orders and future growth.
Simon McGivern, CEO of Ila, commented: "This major order, our largest from a single customer, is from a household name with global reach. We hope this will be first of many such orders, the fulfillment of which will be helped by the recently secured working capital. It is a testament to Ila's progress that we received such strong support from shareholders, both existing and new, for this fundraising, despite the current adverse stock market conditions.
We continue to expect sales growth for the following 12 months to be significantly stronger than previously forecast, and as a consequence expect to reach breakeven earlier than previously predicted.
For further information please contact:
Ila Group Limited 020 3384 7134
Simon McGivern, Chief Executive
Paul Gazzard, Director
FinnCap 020 7600 1658
Charles Cunningham/Ben Thompson - Corporate Finance
Joanna Weaving/Victoria Bates - Corporate Broking
Lothbury Financial Services 020 7868 2010
Gary Middleton
Simon Astley